The Nut Job: A Very Nutty Family
by emmydisney17
Summary: When Andie, Surly and the entire park community ends up adopting a little orphan boy who can talk to animals, they end up having one adventure after another trying to raise their newest member, avoid the paparazzi that's after Surly and the return of the power hungry Raccoon who plans to get revenge on Surly and his friends once and for all. Co-authored with White Hunter.
1. Proluge

**The Nut Job: A Very Nutty Family**

 **Prologue**

It all began one seemingly regular sunny morning, a few moments before the sun was fully up in the sky and in the beautiful park called Liberty Park, a squirrel named Tony was waking up from his slumber before he stretched and yawned before he rubbed the sand out of his eyes to get a better look at his son, his only son, a purple squirrel kit named Surly. Tony reached out and stroked his son's back lovingly before he whispered to his son "Wake up my boy, wake up."

The little ball of purple fluff began to stir and sat up yawning and blinked his eyes open before he yawned and said "Good Morning Papa, is momma back? I wished really hard last night."

When Tony heard that the older squirrel sighed and said "I'm so sorry son, I tried wishing so many times... but momma won't come back."

It has been a few days since his wife, Alexia, whom Surly got his purple fur from, was reported dead at the hands of those monsters that roamed the streets, those vile and horrible creatures that were called cats. Their leader was a grey tabby named Miguel, who took over his father's gang when he turned nine years old and has been their leader ever since... and a real pain in the neck for everyone at the park.

"Why did Momma leave the park Poppa?" Surly asked his father.

"Oh Surly." Tony sighed "You see, your mother believed that we were meant to live a better life then just hunting for nuts and often talked about this special placed she called 'Paradise'. In Paradise, we'd never have to look for food, we'd never worry about being caught in the rain or snow or harsh winds, there'd be no worries, no problems, and nobody would suffer. She left to find such a place for you son, I thought she'd find it before summer started... but... that time we bid each other good bye... was the last time I ever saw her."

Surly crawled over to his father and curled up by his feet as he said "I miss Momma."

Tony picked up his son and hugged him tight. Then he left their knothole home and stood on a tree branch before he placed his son down and together, they stared out at the rising sun together while a smile slowly grew on Surly's furry face. After a moment of silence Surly turned to his dad and said "So am I old enough to get nuts on my own? Well, with you at least?"

"Well... I suppose... yes." Tony said with a grin.

Surly couldn't help but smile as he hugged his father before the pair took off to find some food together as father and son. Surly thought that his life was perfect and nothing would ever change that... but fate had other plans for him.

* * *

That night in the middle of July was cold and the city was ablaze with light and people and hiding in an alley was a scared little purple squirrel nobody was paying attention to. He shivered as he tried to hang on to the rag he was using for a blanket but it wasn't working. Not long ago he watched with tears as his eyes as his father, his only parent in the whole world, die suddenly due to a virus that had been going around and now he was all alone.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over him as the poor baby closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst... instead a pair of gentle and soft hands scooped him up and held him high in the air and Baby Surly dared himself to take a peek and look at what was holding him.

It was a beautiful 21 year old woman with short brown hair, bright brown eyes and wore a beautiful pink blouse with a blue skirt and brown shoes. The way she held Surly in her hands made Surly remember of the warmth and comfort he felt when he was in his father's arms. He found himself smiling as the woman smiled at him and said "Hello my little friend. My name is Addison. Addison Cumberbatch. I support all kinds of animals at work and at home... and I have a little friend like you who'd love to have a friend like you."

Addison took the little baby squirrel kit back to her home where Baby Surly saw the inside of her house, decorated in all kinds of things that the little squirrel kit could only describe as creative and crazy with things he had no idea were called or what they were suppose to do. Addison walked over to a table where a nicely decorated cage was placed and placed baby Surly inside, and there, waking up from her nap was a beautiful red squirrel kit that made Surly blush like crazy.

"You two go and get acquainted and I'll make you a nice meal to share." Addison said before she walked away to the kitchen.

Surly went over to the little squirrel girl and he said "H-Hi... I'm Surly."

"You don't look surly to me." the other kit said.

"No, I mean that's my name. My name is Surly." Surly said "And you are?"

"Andie... I... I lost my parents." Andie said "That's why i'm here... I don't remember where I used to live or what my parents looked like."

"I lost mine too." Surly said "But I remember where I live, Liberty Park! Maybe if we're lucky the lady will take us back."

"Maybe... but I love her." Andie said "She's like... like my mommy."

Surly thought about the love, tenderness and kindness Addison gave him and smiled before saying "You know... now that you mention it... it feels just like paradise... why leave it?"

Andie smiled and so did Surly before Addison arrived to feed them delicious nuts and soon the kits decided to stay and call Addison their 'Human Mommy' and life was perfect... until April 3rd, when Addison had to let them go due to being unable to care for them anymore. They were released in Liberty Park by Addison's 17 year old cousin AJ, who dropped them off and bid them good bye before riding off in his bike and out of sight and out of their lives.

Surly was reunited with his old friends and introduced them to Andie, but when he told them about Addison, they made fun of the pair for being pets, and according to the new leader Raccoon a park animal being a pet to a human is a disgrace and an embarrassment. Andie managed to win Raccoon's trust and approval but Surly barely managed to pass and was humiliated even more. Finally Surly had had enough.

In a fit of anger and heartbreak, he pushed everyone, even a squirrel family willing to adopt him, away, so far away that nobody wanted anything to do with him. Andie kept trying to get him to change but Surly had become an outcast, a rouge who was only out for himself. Andie thought it was hopeless... until the day he started to hang out with a kind and friendly blue rat named Buddy that he found on the streets, that was when Andie knew that not all of the goodness wasn't gone, it was still there... just hiding and she knew that one day the goodness inside Surly would return, even if she'd have to wait until they were adults to do so.

And that was just what she did when Surly preformed the first nut job, saved the park and when Raccoon tried to stop him, he went over a waterfall and had never returned. Now it was a whole year since the first nut job... and things have never been better... except for one thing; would they ever see their 'human mommy' Addison ever again?

Well, there was only one way to find out.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

It was a sunny day within the bustling city of Oakton as signs of autumn started to show all around on the leaves of Liberty Park. People were spending some of their time walking through the park while others had a quiet picnic with either their friends and/or family. A group of humans were sitting on a purple and white picnic blanket with their picnic basket in the middle while they chat with one another and threw an occasional joke time to time. They were unaware that they were being watched by two animals that were hiding in the tree, looking down at them. They were none other then Surly and Buddy, who were hiding on the highest branches of the tree and staring at the picnic basket the humans had between them.

"Okay Buddy," Surly said as he turned to look at his friend "You remember what to do?"

Buddy saluted his friend before he began to climb down the tree towards the ground. Once he was on the ground, Buddy began to quietly sneak towards the basket so that the humans wouldn't notice him. Once he reached his destination he climbed into the basket and waited for one of the humans to reach in and take something from the basket. Surly let out a chuckle as he plugged his ears with his fingers as he waited for the action to begin. Sure enough, not to long after, one of the humans reached into the basket to grab something. Just before he could grab a packet of nuts, Buddy popped his head out of the basket and stuck out his tongue at the humans. Once they saw him, the group of humans got up and screamed as they ran out of the park in terror. Surly smirked as he climbed down to the ground from the tree and approached Buddy as he stood near the picnic basket with a smile on his face.

"Good work Buddy." Surly praised as he clapped a hand on Buddy's shoulder "I've never seen humans run that fast before. Now come on, let's see what's in this basket."

The two friends climbed into the basket to see the food inside it. They saw the packet of nuts in the basket but there were also other kinds of food that they had never seen before. Surly made his way to an open packet of twist pretzels and pulled one out to examine it for a moment. He sniffed at the strange food item for a moment, frowning in thought before he took a bite out of it. After chewing on it slowly, he swallowed before he turned to look at Buddy, who was holding a marshmallow in his paws.

"Hmmm... not bad. A little salty but other then that not bad." Surly said

Buddy took a bite of the marshmallow, chewed on it for a while before he smiled and gave Surly a thumbs up to show his friend that the marshmallow was good.

"Looks like we've stumbled upon a lot more then just nuts Buddy." Surly said as he placed the pretzel down and climbed out of the basket with Buddy fallowing right behind him "Now all we have to do is find a way to get this basket all the way back to the mill."

Buddy looked at Surly with a puzzled look on his face. How were they going to get the basket to the old mill, where the animals were storing food for the winter this year? Surly thought about what to do before an idea came to his head.

"Buddy, go and get the Bruisers," Surly instructed "I'll stay here and guard the basket."

Buddy nodded before he quickly ran off to look for the groundhog brothers. Surly watched his friend go for a moment before he sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the picnic basket. He turned his head towards the sky to watch a few clouds pass by overhead and let his thoughts wander back to the day that he changed and went from a selfish outcast to helping the park out in any way he can for them.

'Things have been a real life turner for me.' Surly thought with a soft chuckle 'Who would've thought that I would turn over a new leaf when it came down to the heist? I'm glad I never have to see Raccoon's smug face ever again after what he tried to do to the team. Too bad we didn't think about giving that faker the boot earlier when we had the chance.'

Then his thoughts drifted all the way back to the day he and Andie were younger and that kind and wonderful human woman who took great care of them when they were orphaned at a young age. A sad frown came over his face as Surly thought about Addison. He hadn't seen her in years, he tried to find her before but he couldn't remember her address and ended up getting lost and giving up before heading back to the park.

'I wonder how she's doing?' Surly wondered sadly 'And... I wonder if she still remembers me and Andie... or maybe she forgot all about us.'

Surly continued to watch the clouds for a while before he heard the feet of Buddy and the Bruiser siblings running towards him. He stood up and watched them come towards him with a smile on his face.

'Oh well... wherever Addison is, I hope she's living a happy life.'


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It didn't take long for Surly and his friends to return to the mill where the animals had gathered some food to survive the oncoming winter but as Surly looked around, he realized that Andie, the new leader, was missing. That was strange since she had never been absent or late for food gathering before. Surly was wondering what could've happened to her when he spotted Mole, Andie's right hand man, taking over Andie's position in passing out food for the others.

Surly walked over to Mole and said "Hey Mole, where's Andie? I thought she was suppose to be here, it's one of her favorite things do to."

"I thought so too." Mole said "The last time I saw Andie she said that she was going on a walk but that was three hours ago. You don't suppose something could've happened to her do you?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Surly said.

Once he left the mill Surly and Buddy began to search the park for Andie. Surly wondered why Andie left for so long and why she didn't tell anyone about leaving before suddenly a familiar dog that they met at their first heist, a pug named Precious, ran into the park, barking like crazy as she cried for help.

"Help! Help! Somebody help!" She cried.

"What is it?" Surly called down from the tree he was in "Did you misplace something of yours again?"

"No, worse! Andie's been kidnapped by humans!"

The moment he heard that he practically zoomed down the tree and stopped in front of the pug's face as he shouted "WHAT?!"

"Andie came over and said that she needed my help to find this person Addison," Precious explained as she panted while Buddy joined the pair "We were halfway there, or somewhere close, I don't remember... Anywho, we made a turn and suddenly these human kids pounced on us! They played mind games with me, tossed me like I was a bean bag, caught Andie in a net and carried her away! Luckily I know where they're going, I overheard them talking and they said that they were heading back to their home."

"Where is it?" Surly asked.

"It's the local orphanage, and if we hurry we might be able to save her before they turn her into Squirrel Stew! That's what they plan to do with her!"

Without wasting another moment Surly and Buddy got on the pug and rode her all the way to the local orphanage, the Oakton Orphanage for human children who have no parents or homes and are saddled to make their home in the orphanage until a couple comes along to adopt them. The problem was that with no parent to control them, the kids were basically wild and uncontrollable and those with bad tempers or are just angry, took out their pain on anything they wanted, including animals. Surly had heard awful stories about the animals they tortured there and knew that Andie had to be rescued before she ended up (And Surly really hoped it wasn't true) becoming a meal in some human's stomach!

Once they jumped over the toy littered front lawn and passed the sign, they walked over to the window and peeked in to see if they can find any trace of Andie but all they saw were some more toys and a butterfly net.

"There's the net!" Precious exclaimed "There's the net!"

"But where's Andie?" Surly asked

The three ducked down when they heard someone coming and the front door opened to reveal the orphanage's nanny leading the children outside as she said "I hope you all have had a wonderful lunch dears, but just wait until dinner, that's something truly special."

"Lunch? Dinner?" Surly asked.

"Oh no, we were too late! They ate Andie! Or they're saving her for Dinner! Either way she's as good as dead!" Precious exclaimed in alarm.

"Mrs. Scott?"

The trio ducked again and this time they watched as a little nine year old boy came into view holding a cage that had Andie inside. The boy had chocolate brown hair, light brown eyes, a face full of freckles and wore a green shirt with dark blue pants and red and white shoes. The animals looked at boy as he held up the cage with Andie inside saying "If it's alright with you, I'd like to stay inside and take care of my new friend."

"Oh, of course you can sweetie." Mrs. Scott said as she pushed back of strand of her blonde hair behind her ear "At least someone respects animals enough not to treat them like toys."

"Oh whew, she's okay." the pug sighed as the boy and the nanny walked back into the building.

"But Andie's in a cage." Surly said "We gotta get her out of there and out of this place."

Luckily the doggie door allowed them entry and the pug fallowed the scent all the way to the bedroom where they watched as the boy placed the cage on the table and opened the cage and Andie climbed out of the cage and into the boy's hands as he smiled and said "I'm glad you came Andie, I was getting really lonely."

Surly couldn't believe what he saw nor what he heard. How did that boy learn Andie's name? It was impossible for humans and animals to talk to each other due to the 'language barrier' as he called it and any decent squirrel would've just ran out the door the moment they were set free, but Andie wasn't scared at all. In fact she looked very happy. What was going on?

Andie crawled under the boy's clothes and began to tickle him, making the child giggle as Surly watched with his jaw hitting the floor in shock. And just when he thought it couldn't get anymore weirder the boy noticed them and said "Oh look Andie, you're friends are here!"

Andie climbed out of the boy's shirt and ran towards her friends before she embraced Surly in a hug and said "Oh Surly, you would not believe the last several moments I've had since coming here and this child, he's so wonderful I can't help but love him!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Time out!" Surly said as he gently pushed Andie away "What are you talking about? Aren't you in serious danger?"

"Oh no, let me explain." Andie said "I was in trouble the moment I was taken here but then Noah, that's this young boy here, saved my life and he's now my friend."

"I thought you said that all human kids were monsters." Surly said

"That was before I met Noah." Andie said "He's the sweetest little boy I've ever met. He's kind, understanding, gentle and he loves animals of all kinds."

"He's also a human and meanwhile back at Liberty Park everyone's wondering where you went." Surly said "Now let's go."

"Don't go Mr. Surly, stay a while! I want to talk to you!" Noah said as he got on all fours and crawled towards them.

Surly, Buddy and Precious did a double take at that comment and Surly began to stammer as he said "How... how does he know my name?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you... you see Noah's not like any other human in Oakton." Andie said with a smile "You see... he has a gift... he can talk to animals. He can actually understand what we are saying!"

"No way, I don't believe that." Surly said

"Believe it Surly." Noah said with a smirk on his face "Andie told me all about you."

This time Surly just stood there in shock and then he toppled over and fainted. Buddy fainted as well, on top of Surly. Precious walked over to Noah and said "Wait a minute, you... you can understand me... us... you actually can talk to animals?!"

"Yes, since birth." Noah said "And you must be Precious, Andie told me all about you and the nut store and Lana and... why do you look pale?"

The pug only groaned in response and waddled this way and that before tipping over, falling over onto her back and fainted.

* * *

After a few hours of explanation Noah took them to the basement where they were to meet someone that Noah called 'Uncle AJ'. The animals were led past some old boxes and junk and Noah revealed an elderly dog, a Maltese, resting on an old pet bed before he let out a yawn and said "Hello again Noah, how are you doing my boy?"

"Great, guess what? I met some new friends, meet Surly, Andie, Buddy and Precious." Noah said as he got down on his knees and crawled over to the dog.

AJ began to lick the little boy's cheeks lovingly and tenderly as the boy giggled at the touch while Surly and the others watched. When the dog stopped Noah's stomach rumbled and the dog nudged it with his nose saying "My boy, sounds like you're hungry. Why don't you go upstairs before you miss dinner. I'll stay here and talk to your new friends."

Noah smiled as he ran upstairs to get something to eat and Andie, who had been smiling the whole time, sighed as she said "Oh how sweet, you love him enough to let him call you uncle."

"Naturally," AJ said "I'm the last member of his family. I'm all he has left... his parents and my owners Hailey and Blake were the best parents any boy and pet could ask for... but then they died in a car accident and we both ended up in the orphanage. Noah convinced them to let me stay as a guard dog... but I'm so old that I don't really guard as well as I used to."

"Guess that means you're too old to chance anything huh?" Surly asked.

"Yeah, so I don't bother." AJ said "But there is something very important I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Andie asked in concern.

AJ let out a sigh and said "I haven't told Noah yet... but I can't bring myself to stay it... it'll break his little heart if he found out that I'm going to die any day now."

Andie's paws shot up to her mouth as she gasped in shock while the others stood there with wide eyes.

"You see, I am dying and one day I will officially die and pass on to the afterlife." AJ explained "When that happens, my poor little Noah will have no one to care for him. No one to take care of him, nurture him, no one to make him smile or giggle... the poor thing will be crying for a long time and I want to make sure that he is in safe hands and away from those other humans."

"Why?" Surly asked the dog "Don't they take care of him?"

"They do, the people here do," AJ said "It's just that, Noah's gift is special, a one of a kind treasure... but there are bad people who would love to use it to their advantage. I don't trust humans at all, not since the day that some adult humans tried to force Noah to use his gift against us... and those monsters abused him... I tried to help as best I could..." tears of sadness filled the elderly dog's eyes as he remembered that horrible ordeal Noah once went through long ago "The poor little thing... my poor little boy... now I fear that the orphanage will hand him off to a human family and when they find out about Noah's gift... the poor child will be used again... But there is a way such a horrible fate can be averted."

"How?" Andie asked.

"You have to get Noah out of here," AJ said "Take him and hide him somewhere safe and hide him there, where no selfish human would ever find him."

Andie thought about it and said "I know, we can take Noah to the mill back in Liberty Park! Nobody ever goes there and that will be the perfect place to hide him!"

"What? Are you mad?!" Surly asked "How are we going to care for him? It's hard enough getting enough food to everyone else at the park but a human's belly is bigger then ours! And where is he going to bath? Or sleep? or anything like that?"

"Addison didn't give up on us, she took care of us, no matter what." Andie said.

At the mention of Addison, Surly stopped and sighed sadly. He remembered how Addison had to sometimes struggle with a few other things while they were under her care but no matter what she always smiled at them and told them that she loved them... slowly a smile crept over Surly's face before he said "You know... if a human can care for squirrels, squirrels can care for humans."

Andie smiled and eloped Surly in a hug, glad that he was on the same page before Buddy joined in on the hug. AJ smiled before he said "Oh yes, one more thing. There is one person that I especially do not want anywhere near Noah at all coasts... Amanda."

"Who's that?" Surly asked.

"The local bully of the orphanage." AJ said "She is a horrid, vile and cruel eleven year old girl who the other orphans fear and hate the most. They say that she's so horrible that not even her own parents could stand here so they left her hear and moved to Florida."

"She's that bad?" Surly asked.

"And more." AJ said "Now promise me this, promise to keep Noah safe and sound at all coasts, promise to care and raise Noah as your own son, and most of all, keep Amanda away from him. If she found out he can talk to animals, she will turn his life into a living nightmare."

"Don't worry AJ," Andie said "You won't regret this, we will do our best to care for Noah and keep him safe in the park community."

"Yeah, and who knows, by the time we're done with him, he'd be more animal then human." Surly said.

AJ smiled and the animals left through another doggie door and into the backyard. While their pug friend walked them all the way home Surly and Andie were brainstorming, figuring out what to do and how to break the news to the animals when the time came for Noah to move in.

"So, any ideas?" Surly asked "Cause I'm stumped."

Andie smiled "I think I have an idea, and it will take everyone working together for this."

And with that, they continued heading towards their beloved park home and both squirrels knew that the other animals in the park were going to be in for a big surprise when they got there.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Once back at the park, Surly, Andie and Buddy called an assembly for all the park residence to come to the old mill. Night had already fallen upon the city and the park and their pug friend Precious had already went home to Lana so she wouldn't worry and bid her friends good night. Once the assembly had began the animals quickly began bombarding Andie with question after question, asking her what had happened to her. Andie tried to answer as best as she could but the questions began to become so overwhelming that Surly, who was getting annoyed, raised two fingers up to his lips and let out a loud whistle that got everyone's attention.

"Will all of you please calm down!?" Surly shouted as he glared at all of the animals that stood within the mill. "Everyone will be explained once you give Andie some space to breathe!"

Everyone remained quiet for a while before Surly let out a sigh before looking at Andie nodded to her to let her take the floor. Andie gave Surly a grateful look before she cleared her throat and began to tell the animals her tale. The animals listened instantly on how Andie had been out for a walk when she was captured by a group of boys that wanted to turn her into squirrel stew. The animals gasped at that but they didn't say anything as they continued to listen to Andie's story. Andie then told them about how Noah arrived to save her and he helped her by telling the people who ran the orphanage about the boys holding her captive, giving them time out as punishment while asking them if he could take care of her before setting her free. That was when she found out that Noah had a gift to understand animals. She then got to the part about how Surly, Buddy and Precious found her and meet AJ and the dying dog asking them to take care of Noah to keep him safe from humans that want to use his gifts.

At the mention of the park community taking care of a young human child, they all stared at her with uncertainty and apprehensive feelings about the idea. That thought was easily voiced by Mole as he spoke up for all the animals in the mill.

"Uh... are you sure it's a good idea to bring a human, much less a human child, into Liberty park?" Mole questioned with a worried look on his face "I mean, it's never been tried before, you know... animals raising a human child."

"I know, but we can't just leave Noah there in the orphanage where a human adult will try to abuse his powers to talk to animals," Andie reasoned as she looked at all of the animals before her. "Noah is only a kid and we have to help him."

The park animals still looked a little unsure about the idea of raising a human in their park. Surly then took to the floor as he stared hard at the animals before him.

"Look, I know all of you are unsure about this, but Andie is right." Surly said "This kid, Noah, needs our help to protect him from humans that want to use him and incase some of you have forgotten, Andie and I had once been raised by a human a long time ago when we lost our parents. If it weren't for that Addison human then we wouldn't even be here among you guys right now. Now somebody needs our help and we have to act fast or else it might be too late."

The Animals of Liberty Park were silent for a moment before the Bruisers siblings spoke up first from the crowd.

"We're in." Jimmy said with a grin.

"Yeah," Johnny said with a nod of his head "After all, things were getting kind of boring around here. This could be fun!"

"Besides, we can't let you guys have all the fun when it comes to busting this kid out of the orphanage." Jamie added with a smirk.

"Then let us not hesitate!" Grayson said as he stepped in and took on a dramatic pose with a serious look on his face "A child is in need of our help and we mustn't ignore him. Who's up for another daring rescue!?"

Soon everyone began to agree to the plan in saving Noah from the orphanage. Surly and Andie stared at their friends in surprise before they turned to look at one another with smiles on their faces. Surly soon got down to the plan on how to get Noah out of the orphanage with everyone paying close attention to the details he was giving out, but unknown to the animals they were being watched by an all too familiar cardinal that was staring down intently at the group of animals with it's piercing black eyes. It listened in onto the conversation about the boy who was able to understand the language of animals. The cardinal then opened its wings again and flew away as it headed back to its master to tell him what it had learned from the Liberty Park animals and what they were up to.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Once the plan was put into action Surly organized a team of animals from the park to go and carry out their plan to rescue Noah from the orphanage. He told Andie to stay behind and decorate the old mill so that it would be ready for their new human member of the park family.

Armed with a few items in their crayon backpacks, Buddy and Surly led the animals all the way to the doors of the orphanage and began to formulate a plan on how to get inside, however they were surprised when Buddy realized that someone left a window open, open wide enough for the team to simply walk right into the building like they were practically invited inside.

Surly wondered if Noah had something to do with this when he and the others jumped inside and began to look around for Noah. They looked around in the dead of night before they heard a bell ringing. They jumped for a while before realizing it was just the grandfather clock chiming eleven o'clock at night.

Then they got another surprise, on the top of the stars was a white blanket with something big hiding underneath it and by it's side was a brown backpack and a light blue suitcase next to it. Curiously Surly went towards the blanket at the top of the stairs first fallowed by everyone else. He went under the blanket and found Noah hiding underneath it, crying his eyes out and sniffling as he wiped tears from his face and his red eyes, which got redder the more he cried.

"Noah, are you okay?" Surly asked

"N-No... AJ just died and... I... I'm so sad... I'm all alone now." Noah said.

Ouch. Surly didn't think the dog would die the moment they left, but now he felt bad for Noah for losing the only family he had. He looked at the boy and said "Uh, Kiddo, why are you all packed?"

"AJ said to run away before any nasty human got to me... but I don't know where to run." Noah said.

Surly grinned "Well it's your lucky day because I know the perfect place for you to live, it's a nice old mill in Liberty Park and Andie's getting the place ready for you even as I speak."

Noah smiled as he sniffled and said "Oh Surly, do you think that the park will like me?"

"Trust me, they'll be glad to have you around kiddo." Surly said "You already won over Andie, the park leader, and if you can get on her good side so easily, then you won't have any trouble with the rest of us."

Noah sniffled and said "Will I be loved there?"

"Naturally, you'll have a nice place to live, a good roof over your head, as much company as you want, all the nuts you want to eat-"

"No, no nuts." Noah said.

"Why not?" Surly asked

"I have food allergies." Noah said with a frown "I can't eat anything that has nuts in it. If anything nut related gets into my tummy I'll get very sick."

Nut allergies? Oh swell. Surly frowned as he rubbed his head and sighed "Okay, well that's okay, there are other places to find food for you. Hopefully enough to fill that big human stomach of yours."

At that Noah's plump stomach began to rumble and gurgle loudly as he rubbed it and Surly jumped back a little when he heard the boy's stomach growl "Are you hungry right now?"

"Actually I ate dinner and desert before you guys came here." Noah said before he rubbed his rumbling tummy with a groan "But I don't think that meatloaf and berry pie are sitting so well in my tummy."

"Well, walk it off kid and you'll be fine." Surly said.

"Okay." Noah said before he let out a burp and said "Sorry."

Noah removed the blanket and Surly turned to find his friend... and gasped in horror when he saw them cornered by two nasty big dogs! The first one was a Siberian husky with a golden collar around her neck with the silver tag reading 'Melissa' on it and the second one was a Bernese mountain dog with a magenta collar around his neck with a black tag reading 'Riley' on it.

"Oh no, who are those guys?!" Surly exclaimed.

"Melissa and Riley, our new guard dogs." Noah explained "The owner Mrs. Clark got them shortly after you left."

"That would have been great to know before we came here wouldn't it?!" The squirrel asked the boy.

"I wish we had a dog whistle." Noah said "We could really use one right now."

Surly smiled and hit the side of his head. Of course! He remembered bringing the dog whistle with him in his backpack. He quickly whipped out the dog whistle and blew into it as hard as he could. Immediately the dogs winced back in pain at the whistle and the animals managed to make it back through the window, all but Buddy, who misplaced his footing and fell, landing with a hard thud on the floor.

Surly kept blowing as he motioned for the boy to come with him and together they passed the dogs, climbed out of the window and Noah scooped up Buddy before gently placing him inside his pocket and running outside with his friends, but not before he placed his suitcase, blanket and backpack into his purple painted wagon, which he had left outside earlier that day, and soon he was on his way to his new home in Liberty Park.

Surly climbed into Noah's pocket and sat next to his friend as he said "Are you alright Buddy? Nothing broken?"

Buddy shook his head with a smile. He wasn't hurt, however he did have a bruise on his arm thanks to the fall. Surly checked it and sighed "Whew, it doesn't look bad. Just walk it off and I'll be okay."

Buddy nodded before he closed his eyes and went to sleep. Surly just sighed and smiled at his friend before he climbed out of the pocket and onto Noah's shoulder as he said "Don't worry kid, by the time we're done with you you'll be a true park animal through and through, gathering food for the winter and all kinds of things."

"You mean like I can have all the Apple Pie and Ice Cream I want?" Noah asked.

"Exactly..." Surly said before he asked "What's Apple Pie and Ice Cream?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The walk back to the park was quiet as the animals led Noah back to their home but they soon arrived at their destination with Noah looking a little tired after their escape. Andie had just finished decorating the inside of the mill before she heard Surly, Noah and the animals walking in. Andie quickly ran up to Surly with a relived look on her face before noticing that they were one animal short.

"Where's Buddy?" Andie asked in worry.

"Don't worry, he's fine." Surly replied as Noah took Buddy out of his pocket and set the rat down on the ground. "We'd hit a little snag back at the orphanage and Buddy bruised his arm, but other then that everything went according to plan."

"What do you mean a little snag?" Andie questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll tell you about it later, right now let's get Noah settled in." Surly said.

Andie nodded her head as she led Noah over to some old blankets that she and the other animals had found yesterday and had created a comfortable nest for the boy to sleep in. Noah climbed into the nest and instantly fell asleep with some of the park animals, including Buddy, cuddling around him. Surly then gestured for Andie to follow him outside so that they could talk with each other in private. The two squirrels made their way up to the roof of the mill and sat down together as Surly faced Andie, who looked at him for an explanation about what kind of snag that he and the other animals had faced at the orphanage.

"Okay Surly, what exactly happened?" Andie asked.

Surly took in a calming breath before he answered Andie's question.

"AJ died right after we'd left the orphanage." Surly answered.

Andie gasped at the news of the old dog dying when they had left the orphanage and tears began to form within her eyes.

"Noah took it pretty hard." Surly continued sadly "As for the snag well... let's just say that the orphanage had hired two new dogs to be guard dogs. Luckily I had the dog whistle with me otherwise we would have all have ended up being dog chow by now."

"I'm just glad that everyone is okay," Andie said with a sad smile "But I feel sorry for Noah though, AJ was the only family member he had left."

"Yeah... I know," Surly said with a sad frown "But we did make a promise to the old dog to take care of Noah."

"Yes," Andie replied with a nod before smiling again "But at least we have enough nuts for Noah to eat here in the park."

Surly bit the bottom of his lip as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Andie noticed this and quickly became worried.

"What's wrong?" Andie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Andie... uh... Noah can't eat nuts." Surly answered as he looked at Andie with an uneasy look on his face "Noah is allergic to nuts so if he eats any kind of nuts he'll wind up getting sick."

When Andie heard this, she let out a sigh as she ran her hand down in front of her face in disbelief. This was going to be a problem for them.

"This is not good," Andie voiced as she turned away from Surly and sat down. "How are we going to feed Noah when winter comes around?"

Surly sadly looked at the red squirrel before he walked up to Andie and sat down by her side. Surly gently placed an arm around Andie's shoulder as he tried to comfort her as best as he could as he began to think about their situation a little more.

'How are we suppose to look after Noah if he has an allergy to nuts?' Surly through to himself.

Suddenly Surly remembered the picnic basket that he and Buddy had stolen from the humans and that was when an idea came to him.

"I think I might have an idea." Surly said.

Andie perked up at what Surly had said and turned to look at him with a questioning look on her face. Surly quickly stood up and crouched in front of Andie as he began to explain his plan.

"We can steal some food from the humans in the city and bring the food back to the park." Surly explained with a smirk.

Andie was a little unsure about that idea and voiced her thoughts to Surly "But Surly," Andie reasoned "There are some foods out there that have nuts in them."

"Then we'll have to be very careful when we do steal the food," Surly said as he stared firmly at Andie in determination "I promise Andie, that i'm going to make sure that Noah will be safe and that no harm will ever come to him."

Andie looked at Surly in surprise when he said those words to her before a smile appeared on her face. She was about to say something when Buddy suddenly came running up to them. The rat quickly stopped in front of the two squirrels and began to wave us arms franticly around.

"What's wrong Buddy?" Surly asked with a frown.

Buddy quickly motioned for Surly and Andie to follow him as the pair of squirrels ran close behind him to follow him. Once they were back inside the mill they saw Noah whimpering as he tossed and turned within his makeshift bed. Surly quickly ran up to Mole, who was standing beside Greyson and the Bruisers.

"Mole, What's going on?" Surly asked as Andie and Buddy came up behind him.

"We don't really know," Mole answered helplessly "Everything was quiet for a while, but then Noah started thrashing around all of a sudden."

Surly was confused about why Noah would suddenly start thrashing around in his sleep, but his confusion was quickly placed with worry when he suddenly heard Noah crying. Surly looked at Andie for a moment before he quickly made his way over to Noah and stood near the edge of the boy's makeshift bed and heard what the boy said in his sleep.

"Mommy... Daddy..." Noah whimpered.

Surly's heart clenched within his chest as he sadly stared at the boy before him. Andie, who had also come up to check on Noah, also heard what the boy said as she sadly held her hands to her chest. Surly soon made the first move as he climbed into the nest and stood next to Noah's right cheek and gently placed a paw against it. Surly saw a few tears running down the boys face before he began to gently speak to the boy.

"It's alright Noah, I'm here, Daddy's here." Surly said as he gently wiped the tears away.

Andie watched in amazement as Surly comforted Noah as the boy began to settle down. Andie soon joined in with comforting Noah, stroking his cheek while gently placing a kiss on the boy's forehead. Once Noah settled down, the animals began to cuddle with Noah again with Surly and Andie joining them as well. Soon, everyone was asleep as the animals cuddled around the boy to keep him warm during the night.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The next day Surly and his friends began their most challenging and difficult task of their entire lives... raising a human child. Sure it wasn't easy, but it wasn't very boring either. Noah enjoyed living in the park so much that he began to think of himself as a park animal instead of a human boy.

Surly and Andie ended up becoming a mother and father figure to the human child, with Andie caring for Noah with loving motherly care and Surly supporting him like the fun and wonderful father figure he was in their classic 'Father and Son' bond. Buddy became his uncle figure and the rat did his best to care for Noah as best as he could and would often find himself playing with the boy's hair and tickling him to make him giggle.

The other members of the park also developed a loving relationship with Noah and had lots of fun with him in their own unique way. Mole took him on patrol to check on everyone in the park and used oversized sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sunlight, even if Noah thought they made him look a tad silly. The Bruisers made Noah the fourth Bruiser and taught him how to dig and all other things they love to do, namely how to goof off and pull pranks on others. Even Grayson allowed Noah to become his sidekick and help him with his 'Park Hero' activities, mostly showing off and grooming himself but Noah didn't mind, especially since he played a little prank with him by switching his 'cologne' with tree sap. It didn't hurt or anything but it did take hours to take off but Grayson didn't take it personally, especially since Noah said it could be helpful in case someone tried to trick him like that again.

For the last four whole weeks Noah's park life was pretty amazing and exciting and he thought that nothing could ever make his life any more better then it already was.

However one day everything changed.

It all began on a seemingly regular afternoon as Noah was curled up in his nest while some mice and chipmunks were bouncing on top of his tummy like a trampoline while the other park animals played with Noah's things, taking great care not to ruin them as some of them were gifts from his parents before their unfortunate deaths.

All of the sudden they heard a strange yet beautiful sound, the sound of a melody being played right outside the mill. Noah not only heard the beautiful melody with his own ears but his nose picked up the smell of something delicious right outside, making his tummy rumble loudly. He had missed lunch due to Andie and Surly being late with the food and right now that yummy smell was making his empty belly roar like crazy.

Before anyone knew it Noah had already found himself walking out of the mill and towards a group of gathered humans that were celebrating a party, a Hawaii themed party with tiki statues, flower decorations and painted pictures of tropical birds and animals decorating the area to make the guests feel like they were having a party on a tropical island all of their own. Noah was more interested in the big chocolate cake that was on the table and his stomach rumbled impatiently.

"Who are you?"

Noah yelped as he jumped and soon found himself face to face at a human face... in fact the most beautiful human face he had ever seen before. The girl had long black hair, blue eyes and wore a beautiful flower patterned dress with flowers in her hair and a smile on her pretty dimpled face.

"Hello, my name's Rose." the little girl said with a soft smile "Who are you?"

"N-N-Noah..." Noah stammered as his cheeks blushed bright red "Gosh, you're pretty."

"Well, I think your cute too." Rose said, making Noah blush brighter as he smiled and giggled.

Suddenly Noah's stomach rumbled very deeply, demanding food while Noah pushed down on it gently to make it stop growling. Rose giggled at the sight and took her hand into his as she said "How about we go over to the table and get you something to eat. I'll even let you have some of my birthday cake if you'd like."

"Gee, thanks." Noah said as he fallowed her out into the open.

Watching from the bushes was Jimmy and Johnny, who had tried to get Noah back but the boy was too smitten by Rose to even notice them and Jimmy said "Oh man, this is so not good!"

"Andie and Surly are not going to like this!" Johnny said as they ran back to the mill to tell the others what happened.

Soon Noah was having the time of his life, playing with all of the other human children and no adult even knew that there was an extra guest in their mist. Noah was having a blast, in fact the best time of his life! He was enjoying himself so much he didn't even notice that Surly and Andie had finally returned and once they saw Noah mingling with the humans they were shocked and scared for their child's life. If they knew he lived in the park, as well as had the power to talk to animals, then Noah would be in grave danger!

Without wasting a moment the pair dashed into action. Surly ran ahead and braved the incoming human feet and toys to reach the table where Noah and the other children were pigging out on the food and climbed up Noah's body until he reached the boy's shirt collar and whispered "Noah, Noah!"

Noah noticed Surly and was about to speak to him but was taken by surprise when one of the children shoved some more cake into his mouth, the action knocking Surly straight out of the boy's shirt and right into a sticky mess of leftover glue from the decorations. He struggled to rip the fake parrot off his back and when Noah picked him up and ripped it off his back, leaving some of his purple fur stuck to the paper, and the boy held him close as he said "Surly, are you okay?"

"Kid, it's time to go before someone asks for your home address!" Surly exclaimed, trying to ignore the pain of losing his fur to a 'glue trap'. Noah got up and left in a hurry before he saw Andie and dove into the bushes to talk to her.

"Oh Andie, I had such a blast! Rose's birthday is amazing and the food is fantastic and... and..." he stopped when he realized both Andie and Surly were glaring angrily at him and he said "Did I do something wrong?"

"You broke the rules we gave you!" Surly snapped "You mingled with humans, risked being discovered and taken back and I lost some fur on my body thanks to you!"

"But... but Rose... She was so beautiful..." Noah said.

"She's also a stranger, you don't know if you really can trust her! What if she tries to hurt you or humiliate you?" Andie asked "We told you never talk to strangers and never go anywhere with a stranger and you... you..." she stomped her foot in anger as she snapped at the boy "You are grounded mister, not only are you not allowed to leave the mill ever again but you go without supper tonight."

Noah was shocked by this but he felt responsible and sad for all of this so he sighed sadly and said "Okay, sorry Andie and Surly."

Before he left completely Rose caught up to him and said "Thanks for coming to my party Noah, I hope I see you again very soon."

"Probably not, I'm grounded." Noah said "I probably won't see you in a long time."

"Then take this with you." Rose said before giving him a stuffed animal that resembled an orange cat with a smiling face on it and a green and blue collar around it's neck "It's a hobby of mine... I hope you like him."

Noah took a good look at the cat and smiled before he said "Don't worry, I love him already."

Rose smiled before she kissed him, making him blush once more before she bid him good bye and left him alone with the squirrels. Noah turned to face them with the toy cat and asked "Can I keep him?"

Andie smiled, due to seeing Rose kissing Noah so sweetly and lovingly, and couldn't help but giggle as she said "Alright honey, you can keep him... but you are still grounded."

"And as long as you don't ask for a real cat, that toy's welcome back home." Surly said "Maybe it can keep you company in your nest tonight while you sleep."

"Yeah... and Rose... I hope I see her again." Noah said "I'd give anything to see her again."

Andie and Surly took Noah back to the mill, unaware that a familiar Cardinal was watching them and was flying back with newly gathered information to bring back to his master, meanwhile the humans found Surly's purple fur in the glue and were amazed to see real purple squirrel fur... but was it for real? They decided to send it to the nearest lab they could find to find out for sure. If the fur really was from a purple squirrel... Oakton would have a special treasure on their hands.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Night time came over the park once again as everyone got ready to go to sleep after another long and exciting day. Noah was playing with Buddy and some of the younger animals as he showed them his new toy that Rose gave him before they parted ways. Outside of the mill, Surly and Andie were having a private conversation with each other. Surly was rubbing around some of the spots that he lost his fur when he got stuck in the glue trap.

"You know what hurts more then losing bits of your fur," Surly said in a grumpy voice.

"No, what?" Andie asked curiously.

"You're pride being ripped out of you." Surly answered as he sat down with a huff.

Andie let out a giggle before placing a hand of Surly's shoulder.

"Oh come on Surly, you're fur will grow back in to no time." Andie reassured with a smile.

"Yeah I know," Surly grumbled before he let out a sigh and looked up at the night sky with a serious look on his face.

Andie noticed this and became concerned "Surly... what's wrong?"

Surly didn't answer for a moment at he continued to look up at the sky for a while, but he soon let out a sigh before he turned his head to look at Andie.

"Taking care of Noah is a lot harder then we thought." Surly said as he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees "We take our eyes off him for one second and he wanders off to mingle with humans, thus breaking one of our rules to never go near strangers that we aren't sure would hurt him or not."

"It was just one little mistake Surly," Andie reasoned "Besides you can't blame him for wanting to find something to eat, while also having a little fun with kids his own age."

"I know but..." Surly let out another sigh before looking down at the tiles of the roof "I get the feeling that one day... Noah will want to go back to his own kind."

"What do you mean?" Andie asked with a worried look on her face.

"Andie... Noah maybe happy being with us now, but someday he might want to live with his own human kind again," Surly said as he looked at Andie with a serious look upon his face "I mean, who are we kidding? We may be able to teach him some of the things we know but he's still human."

"What are you trying to say Surly?" Andie asked fearfully.

Surly hesitated for a second as he through over the words he was going to say before finally speaking.

"What i'm saying is, that when the time comes for him to want to be around humans more then us animals, then we have to help him find the right humans for him to trust." Surly answered gently "I'm not saying right now or tomorrow, but when Noah's ready in his own time."

Andie frowned as she thought over what Surly had said and she quietly agreed. Noah may enjoy living with them now, but what would happen when he wants to seek the company of humans one day? The thought of Noah wanted to be with his own kind made Andie's heart ache a little but she would support Noah on whatever decision he makes. Surly noticed how sad Andie looked before he wrapped his arm around the female squirrel and brought her to his side and let her lean against him as he comforted Andie. Andie blushed under her fur for a moment before leaning a little more into Surly. Surly leaned the side of his head against Andie's as he comforted her while slowly remembering how he once had a crush on her when they first met as kids and he could honestly say that he still had a crush on her. Surly then began to think about Noah's future and prayed that Noah wouldn't leave him and the other animals too soon for they had all grown attached to the kid.

* * *

Meanwhile the cardinal flew for quite a while before it arrived to its destination, which was a dark alleyway, before it landed on an outstretched arm that came out of the shadows. The cardinal began to chirp as it told the being hidden in the shadows about what it had found out today. The being in the shadow listened instantly before it spoke.

"So... Surly has grown quite attached to that human boy, hmm?" asked the being before a smirk appeared on his face before he stepped out into the light to reveal his identity, Surly's old foe and former park leader turned villainous rouge Raccoon "His attachment to that boy will be his undoing."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The next morning everyone in the park awoke to the sound of chirping birds, the bright light of the sun... and a marching band playing outside? When they heard trumpets, drums and other musical instruments playing outside the mill, Noah and the animals jumped from their nests in shock and screamed in terror while the music continued playing.

"Alright, who's the wise guy?" Surly asked as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"What's going on outside?" Andie asked

The animals left the mill along with Noah and when they peered through the bushes to see what it was, their jaws dropped in shock. There was another party taking place, but the theme was all about Surly! Purple squirrel pictures were practically everywhere, on hats, on shirts, on practically everything! There were even pieces of art ranging from paintings and clay statues and balloons and streamers.

Surly rubbed his eyes in shock and said "This can't be happening. This can't be happening."

"Uh Surly, did you know there was a party for you?" Mole asked

"Hey guys!" a voice shouted.

Precious rushed into the bushes and skid to a halt and said "Hey guys! Guess what? Surly's become a celebrity! I heard from my owner Lana that some scientist declared Surly a rare kind of Squirrel and everyone in Oakton is already calling Surly a national treasure! Isn't that exciting?!"

"Say what? Since when?" Johnny asked in shock.

"No way, there's gotta be a mistake! Surly can't be rare!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"If he was rare and stuff, we'd have known for sure!" Jamie said "How come we never knew about this sooner?"

"I have no idea." Precious said "But there's a big party and a search party and everything!"

"Search Party?" Andie asked "Oh no! What if they look in the mill and discover Noah's nest? They'll know there's a human boy living here and come after him for sure! And then what will happen?"

"They'll take him back to the orphanage that's what!" Surly said with a frown "And then they'll send him to live with a nasty human and-"

"Noah!"

The animals screamed and ran away as Rose suddenly appeared out of no where and Surly getting dirt in his eyes, blinding him as he tried to get the dirt out while Rose pulled him and Noah out into the open as she picked up the bottom of her red dress and said "Noah, how do you like my new dress?"

"It's pretty." Noah said "But what is all this?"

"It's for the purple squirrel, everybody's looking for him so we can make him very famous." Rose said.

Noah noticed that Surly was in pain and picked him up as he said "Are you okay?"

"My eyes sting with dirt in them," Surly said "Help me!"

Before Noah could do anything Surly was snatched up in a cage by a man and he ran towards the crowd shouting "I caught the purple squirrel!"

"Surly!" Noah exclaimed as he ran after the man to save his friend.

The man pushed his way past the gathering hordes of onlookers as Surly covered his eyes, for once glad he couldn't see what was going on at the moment and felt the cage being hung in the air before he felt it being placed on a table and he huddled there in fear as people took pictures, shouted and loomed over him, trying to poke him or make him do tricks. It was a living nightmare.

Noah managed to reach the table and was about to open it when someone swatted his hand away from the cage. It was an elderly man in a safari uniform and he said "Don't you dare young man, we need do decide how our new prized treasure in the animal kingdom."

"Who are you?" Noah asked.

"I'm Dr. Campbell, leading zoologist who will put Oakton on the map for more then just another city in our fair nation. I organized this party and invited the entire city here so that they can marvel at this wonderful specimen." the man said.

"That's Surly, my friend and he's scared to death!" Noah exclaimed.

"Surly? Is that what you call him?" Dr. Campbell asked "What a foolish name!"

Surly growled in anger when he heard the human insult his own name and muttered "Just wait until I get out of here you oversized dodo bird."

"Just give me back Surly." Noah said in desperation.

"No, I'm going to take him to the Zoo where he will be sheltered and protected from the harshness of the world. And i'm going to name him Miles, that's more of an appropriate name for him." the doctor said.

"What?!" Surly and Noah exclaimed in shock.

"No way, he's coming with me!" said a man dressed in a long black coat, a matching hat and grey pants came out of the crowd.

"And who are you?" Dr. Campbell asked.

"I am Bernard Zhang." The man said "I'm the best hunter in the whole entire state. As soon as I heard about that purple guy I knew that he'd be perfect for me as a pet. I'm thinking of calling him Tramp on account of he looks like a tramp to me."

"This can't be happening." Surly said.

"No, he's mine!" said another voice. This time a woman wearing a long blue dress came out with long black hair and black eyes came out into the opening with a teenager next to her.

"And who are you?" Dr. Campbell asked.

"I am Mrs. Al-Assam, My husband is the principle of one of the best school in all of Oakton, and not only do I want that squirrel as a pet, I want him for our new mascot. My son Rick has always wanted a special pet of his own."

"Yeah, and what's more special then a purple squirrel?" Rick asked "And as one of the best school athletes i'm honored to keep him as my new pet, and I'm going to name him Chet."

"Somebody get me outta here!" Surly exclaimed.

While the three adults argued Noah saw his chance to sneak over to the cage and open it. Surly wasted no time in sneaking into the boy's clothes and Noah ran off while the adults kept fighting and by the time they realized what happened it was too late.

"Where's that little boy? He must've stolen the squirrel!" Dr. Campbell exclaimed in anger.

"I say first one to catch that squirrel keeps him!" Bernard exclaimed.

"I'll get him first!" Rick shouted.

Soon everyone stampeded across the park as they tore through bushes and looked down holes and other hiding places to find Surly, but no one had been able to find him because they never thought to look inside the mill.

Watching from the shadows Raccoon and some rats were watching the whole scene before one of the rats let out a laugh and said "A lot of commotion and fuss for one squirrel, right boss?"

"Yes." Raccoon said before an idea popped into his head "But maybe that can work to our advantage... I have a plan... and it involves that young boy Noah."

"What are you going to do boss?" The rat asked.

"I'm going to use Noah against the park... namely Surly... and then I will kill him and reclaim my place as leader of the park." Raccoon said with an evil grin.

"No way, how are you going to get that human to work for you?" another rat asked "Won't he realize that you're trying to kill Surly?"

"Not if all the boy is trying to do is protect his family." Raccoon said "And that is what I will use to take my revenge and become the leader again, by becoming Noah's new best friend... or should I say, new _better_ best friend?"


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Back at the mill, the animals had gathered to discuss about what was happening in their beloved park. Precious was also there while Noah sat in complete silence as he and the animals watched Surly pacing back and forth in anger and frustration.

"Great, this is just great!" Surly exclaimed hotly as he gripped his head in frustration "Those humans that are in our park think that I'm some kind of Rare breed of squirrel because of my abnormal fur color! Not only that, but they want to either put me in a Zoo or make me their pet! I wish I was about the size of those humans so that I can give them a piece of my mind! How would they like it if they were put in a cage against their will and put on display in front of thousands of people?"

Andie and Buddy quickly ran over to Surly to stop him from pacing while trying to calm him down.

"Easy Surly, calm down." Andie said as she placed a comforting hand on the purple squirrel's shoulder.

Surly looked at Andie for a moment before he let out a sign "Sorry, it's just that... things are going to get more complicate now that those... nut bags out there think i'm some kind of rare species. They aren't going to stop until they find me and not only that, but they'll also wind up looking and finding Noah as well."

"Well look on the bright side," Grayson said with a smile "At least your famous!"

Everyone looked at Grayson with either blank looks or annoyed looks on their faces, thus making the grey squirrel shrink down with a sheepish look on his face.

"You're not helping Grayson." Surly grumbled with a glare.

Noah, who had been quiet for a time, spoke up in a sad voice as he held his toy close to his chest "This is all my fault," he began to sniffle as all of the animals looked towards the boy on confusion "If I hadn't disobeyed and broken the rules when I went looking for food at Rose's party then no one would have found out about you Surly."

Surly looked at Noah with a frown on his face before sighting sadly in defeat. He then ran over to Noah and climbed up onto the boy's left shoulder. Surly gently placed a paw on Noah's cheek as the boy turned to look at him.

"Noah... it was an accident," Surly reassured with a smile "Besides, I was the one that fell into the glue when I tried to get you back the same time that kid back at Rose's party shoved that piece of cake into your mouth. So technically it's my fault. Right now we have to figure out how we're going to get those humans off my tail so they won't make me into a main attraction."

"But how are we going to do that?" Jamie asked as she and the other animals began to think about how they were going to keep the humans from finding both Surly and Noah.

"He can hide somewhere that no human would expect to look for Surly." Mole suggested.

Surly jumped down from Noah's shoulder and joined in with the conversation to save Surly from unwanted human attention.

"Yeah, but where?" Johnny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He could hide underground." Jimmy said with a smile.

"That's not going to work." Surly said with a shake of his head "In case you've forgotten i'm a tree squirrel, not a ground squirrel."

"He does have a point." Mole said with a sad frown.

"Then how about we dip him in paint and disguise him to look like either a black, red or grey squirrel?" Grayson suggested.

"That's not going to work either." Andie said with a shake of her head "What if Surly runs through a puddle of water or falls into the brook? The paint would wash right off him."

"Well... why not stay at the nut store for a while?" Precious asked with a happy look on her face "No one would think of looking for him there."

"That's a good thought Precious." Surly said with a sad smile "But that's not such a good idea. Your owner would get suspicious if she found out that some of the nuts went missing if I take some in the store, not to mention someone would surely spot me in there if I made one little mistake in revealing myself."

The conversation went on as the animals threw out idea after idea on how to keep Surly safe and hidden from the humans who wanted to catch him. But while they were talking no one noticed Noah sneaking out. He had gotten board with all of the adults talking and wanted to walk around the park, while making sure that none of the humans could see him. He was still a little upset about what he had done and wanted to think of a way to help his father figure. Unknown to the boy, he was being watched by a couple of rats who were hiding in one of the trees. The lead rat turned to one of jis gang members as a smirk grew on his face. The rat the leader was looking at nodded his head before he quickly ran off to find Raccoon to tell him that the boy was alone.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Noah stopped under a bridge to think about what had happened to his life before and after he became a special member of the park. He remembered how his old dog friend and 'Uncle' AJ used to play and take care of him before his death and he sighed as he said "Oh AJ... I miss you so much... why did you have to leave?"

"Hello." said a voice behind him.

Noah turned to see Raccoon standing right behind him with a look of calmness and concern on his face with Cardinal by his side, staring at the boy with a look that the boy found very creepy.

"I heard all about you my boy, the child who can talk to animals." Raccoon said "So I decided to come and pay a visit, only when I get here I find a bunch of humans on a treasure hunt for Surly like he was the most wanted animal on the planet."

"You know Surly?" Noah asked.

"Yes, he's an old friend of mine from long ago." Raccoon said with a nod "And I know where he might be able to find the perfect hiding spot for him."

"Really? Where?" Noah asked.

"There's an alley by the old video store on Rhys Street with an old friend of mine living there. All you have to do is mention the name Miguel and Surly won't have to worry about his problems anymore." Raccoon said with a smile on his face.

"Really? Wow, thanks!" Noah said "I can't wait to tell Surly! Oh... wait a minute, what if he can't help us?"

"Well... then you'll have to go to the old chemistry lab for shelter instead." Raccoon said "Nobody would ever think of looking for a squirrel there."

"Great, thanks!" Noah said with a smile and was about to tell his friends the good news when he turned back and said "Oh, by the way, what's your name?"

"My name... is Liam." Raccoon said with a grin.

"Thanks again!" Noah said before he ran off to tell his friends, unaware of the raccoon's grin turning into a wicked evil smile.

* * *

Later the others, minus Precious who had returned to her owner so not to worry her, were heading towards the old video store just as Raccoon had told the boy to go and soon enough they had arrived at the alley where a chill ran down their spines as Noah looked around for any sign of life in the alley.

"Uh... you sure this is the right place?" Johnny asked as he clung to his siblings in fear "I don't like it here."

"Miguel!" Noah cried out "Miguel! Are you out here?! We need to talk to you!"

Buddy clung on to Surly as they trembled in worry and fear while Surly asked out loud "Miguel... where have I heard that name before?"

He soon got his answer in the form of cat meows, and soon various alley cats came out of hiding and crept towards the group with nasty and hungry looks in their eyes as the park animals trembled in fear and huddled closer to Noah before Miguel, who wore a patch over his eye like a pirate, came out and said "Who are you suppose to be?"

"We're park animals who come in peace." Noah said.

"I don't see no park animals, all I see is what I was promised..." The cat said before he licked his lips and said "Dinner for me and my friends!"

With no where else to hide the animals ran inside Noah's backpack and Noah managed to zip it shut to keep the cats out, but Andie was pulled out before she could join her friends and Noah cried "Mommy!"

Andie was scared out of her wits as Miguel loomed over her with his bared sharp teeth and was about to strike when Noah kicked him away and pulled Andie close before the cats pounced on him and scratched him up as well as they to break open his backpack before he broke free and ran off with some nasty cats after him.

As they continued to run for their lives, Noah looked for an escape route and saw a black rabbit watching them through an open window before he headed straight for the window, tossing the backpack and Andie through the window before crawling through to save himself and his family from the cats.

Before he could slam the door shut, Miguel lunched out and scratched his right cheek, leaving three nasty bleeding scratches on it thanks to the cat's claws. Luckily the rabbit managed to kick Miguel out by kicking the cat right in the face and jumped on the window so slam it shut so the cats would not get in.

Noah unzipped the backpack and everyone climbed out with Surly wasting no time to check on Andie, who was trembling in fear, and hugged her tightly as he asked "Andie! Andie, are you ok?"

Andie was too scared to respond for a moment as she just hugged Surly as tight as she could and was about to speak when Mole came in saying "Oh boy, for a second there, I thought we were all going to be inside those monsters stomachs by now."

"Well, the important thing is that we are all-holy cow, what happened to your cheek!?" Greyson exclaimed when he saw the nasty scratch on Noah's cheek.

Andie turned to see Noah's cheek and gasped in horror before she ran up to his shoulders and said "Oh my baby! What did those monster do to you?"

"It's okay, just a scratch." Noah said, trying not to worry his mother figure.

"Don't worry," the rabbit said, startling the animals a bit as she bounded over to the animals with a smile on her bucktoothed face "My owner just happens to be a doctor and he just might be able to help."

"And who are you?" Grayson asked.

"My name's Sophie and I come her often every time my owner Dr. Oliver Nelson comes to work here to take care of sick and unwell animals." The black rabbit said.

"Can he do human kids too?" Johnny asked as he pointed to Noah, who was still holding his cheek in pain.

"Worth a try." Sophie said "You guys stay here and keep those cats out while I take him to my owner."

Noah fallowed the friendly black rabbit through a door and closed it, leaving his friends alone to tend to their own business for an hour or so before Noah came back with a bandage on his cheek and a lollipop in his hand.

"How did it go honey?" Andie asked.

"Great, Dr. Nelson is really nice, he took care of me and gave me this lollipop for being a good boy, and guess what, he's going to let me visit his wife's movie themed baby shower while we come up with a plan to protect Surly from those nasty humans."

"Wait... did you tell him about your gift?" Surly asked.

"Kind of by accident but yes..." Noah said "But he says he called it an amazing gift and even offered me a position of junior vet so I can help him understand his patients better!"

"Oh boy, I hope that wasn't a mistake." Andie said.

"Speaking of mistakes, it was a pretty dumb one we did trusting some stranger for help." Jimmy said "That Liam guy, what a dummy!"

"Just wait til I get my paws on him," Jamie said "I'll turn him inside out and wear his fur coat!"

Unknown to them Cardinal was spying on them and listened in on their conversation and flew away to alert his master while Raccoon was back at the alley scolding the cats as Miguel tried to readjust his jaw.

"How could you idiots get outsmarted by a rabbit and a human boy?!" He roared "You're suppose to be the most feared gang in the whole city! A dimwitted duck would've had a better chance at capturing those animals!"

Cardinal alerted the raccoon to the vet's office and both he and the bird arrived just in time to see Noah leaving the office with his friends inside his backpack before a car drove up to the front office and out came a beautiful woman with long brown hair, blue eyes and was rubbing her very round stomach.

"Is that your baby Mrs. Noland?" Noah asked the woman.

"Yes, my beautiful baby boy... he still has a month to go then i'll be able to hold him in my arms." The woman said with a smile "Would you like to feel?"

Noah nodded and pressed his hands against Mrs. Noland's pregnant middle and felt the baby moving inside. He giggled happily and the woman smiled before she said "You know, I think my baby already likes you so very much."

Spying from inside the backpack the animals watched on with curiosity and Mole said "How can she tell? The baby's not even born yet."

"She's having a baby? I thought she was just fat." Jimmy said before earning himself a slap in the face "Ouch! What did I say?!"

"Anyway, sorry for interrupting your baby shower so you could pick me and my friends up." Noah said with a little frown on his face.

"Oh, no trouble sweetie, no trouble at all. Besides, I was looking for a good excuse to get out of the house anyway." Mrs. Noland said "By the way, who's your favorite movie star? Everyone will be dressed as one for today and maybe we can find a costume for you to wear as well... if you want to that is."

"Thanks, but i'll stick to being me." Noah said before he got into the car and Raccoon watched as they drove away as he muttered "Baby shower... hmm... that gives me an idea."

He turned his attention to the alley cat and to his own minions the rats and said "Ladies and Gentleman, rodents and felines alike... how would you like to go crash a human party?"


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

While Noah mingled with the human adults, Surly and the animals were in the vet's dining room, where Noah had left them so that they would not scare the other guests, and they were talking about what had happened back at the clinic with Sophie as they talked about what had happened back in the alley.

"It can't be a coincidence that those cats knew we were coming, they had to have known before we arrived." Surly said as he stood on the table while his companions stood or sat on the floor.

"Are you saying that this was all planned out?" Jimmy asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Surly replied with a nod as he crossed his arms over his chest "And I get the feeling that it has to do with the information that Noah had gotten from this Liam guy."

"You think that this Liam stranger could have used Noah so that he would lead us to that alley full of cats?" Mole asked with a worried look on his face.

"I'm sure of it." Surly said with a firm nod of his head.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions you guys," Andie said "Maybe this animal Noah met didn't know about the cats that lived in the alley."

"But he somehow knew Miguel's name." Surly argued with Buddy nodding in agreement.

"Maybe Liam survived an encounter with Miguel in a different part of the city." Andie reasoned.

"Andie, hardly anyone could have survived an encounter with that cat," Surly said with a hard look on his face "We were just lucky that Sophie was there to help us, otherwise we could have seriously gotten hurt... or worse."

"Gotten eaten by a cat." Greyson finished with a fearful look on his face.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about Miguel and his gang for now," Sophie said with a smile "Dr. Noland will be able to take care of you guys until we can find a way to get you all back home to the park and hopefully we'll be able to help you keep your friend Surly safe from becoming someone's pet or city attraction."

"Thank you Sophie, you and your human friend have been very kind to us." Andie said with a smile.

"Yeah, but there's just one question," Surly said before he raised a curious eyebrow at Sophie "How do you know Miguel and his gang members?"

Sophie gave Surly a sad look before looking down at the ground before she began to speak again, answering "The reason I know Miguel and his gang members is because I lost my family to them a long time ago."

Andie, Surly, Buddy, Mole, Grayson and the Bruisers stared at Sophie in shock and horror.

Sophie let out a sniff before she began to explain "It all began a long time ago... My family and I used to live in Liberty park when I was just a young kit. I was the oddball of the group because of my black fur but I was still loved by my parents and siblings and we were pretty much always happy together. But all that changed when our burrow got discovered by a human's pet dog and we have no choice but to run for our lives. In panic, my family and I ran out of the park without stopping and before I knew it we had entered Miguel's territory. I was the only one who survived since my mother hid me under a pile of trash bags. She was able to hide me when our father fought against Miguel as he tried to protect my two brothers and two sisters. I didn't see what happened after that, all I remember hearing was the horrible screams of my family and my body freezing in fear. It all became quiet for a while, but I was too afraid to come out of my hiding place. If I did then Miguel and his gang would have killed me right on the spot. I don't know how long I was under the trash bags, but I was soon discovered by Oliver when he accidently bumped a few trash bags off of my hiding place with his elbow. At first I was afraid of him, but soon I grew to love him as if he were my father. If it weren't for him, then I would had died in that alley."

After hearing Sophie's story, Andie, Surly sympathized with the rabbit for they had lost their parents and were found by a kind woman who became their human mother to them. Sophie was shedding a few tears as she mourned the lost of her family until Surly, Andie and Buddy came up to the rabbit and comforted her with a hug until she calmed down.

"Sorry," Sophie said as she wiped away the tears from her face with her paws.

"No, it's alright," Andie said with a smile on her face "Me and Surly know the feeling since we lost our family members and were raised by a human once."

"Yeah, if it weren't for Addison, the human who saved us, then Andie and I wouldn't be here by now."

Sophie looked at the two squirrels in surprise for a moment before giving them a grateful smile at them for comforting her.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Suddenly there was a very loud shriek and someone yelled "RATS!" and the scream not only shook the walls and made the humans jump out of their skin, but the skin of the animals as well.

"What was that?!" Surly asked in shock.

"And did she say 'rat'?!" Grayson added.

The ran to where the humans were and were shocked to find them attacked by not only the street rats but the alley cats as well and Miguel was the first one to attack the animal group direct on before Sophie head-butted the cat and sent him flying.

"You gotta get out of here!" Sophie exclaimed "Go back to the park! I'll hold them off!"

"But Sophie you can't!" Andie exclaimed fearfully.

"Just go! I'll be fine!" Sophie shouted as she tackled another cat with her feet.

As soon as Noah arrived to scoop up his friends in his backpack the animals ducked for cover inside and Buddy peeked out to see Sophie being attacked from behind and he lost sight of the rabbit and the cats and rats when the zipper zipped shut, blocking the outside world from view. Buddy hoped that Sophie would be okay as they made their escape before they finally reached the park.

Out of breath, Noah sighed as he fell to his knees and unzipped his backpack, freeing the other animals as Andie did a head count and sighed in relief before she said "Oh than goodness, everyone is here and alright."

"Swell, but now we're back to where my mess began." Surly said "If any of those humans see me they'll hunt me down and we'll be back to where we're started from."

No sooner then those words left his lips then he was scooped up in a net and Noah gasped before watching Dr. Campbell put Surly in a cage and ran off with Surly saying "Your mine now, to the Zoo!"

"No wait!" Noah cried but then he tripped on a rock and landed with a thud on the ground.

The animals gasped before they ran back to help Noah but when then they lost sight of Dr. Campbell and Surly. Noah began to cry as he cried "Oh no, we have to get back Surly!"

"And you better."

The animals jumped and turned around to see Raccoon standing there with a grin on his face and Cardinal stood on his raised arm.

"Liam!" Noah exclaimed.

"That is not Liam, that is Raccoon!" Andie exclaimed before she angrily said "What do you want with us?"

"Nothing Andie, I just simply stopped by for a stroll and see how everyone was getting along." Raccoon said "Is that a problem?"

"Uh, yeah, considering you're suppose to be dead!" Johnny exclaimed "And if you don't get outta here right now, me and my brother and sister are gonna make you so dead you ain't ever going to come back."

"Please, you wouldn't dare hurt me... so long as I have someone you love by my side." Raccoon said before he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly Miguel pounced out of no where and nabbed Buddy while Cardinal flew off to prevent the others from getting near them while Miguel shoved Buddy inside a glass jar with holes on the lid and the rats screwed it shut.

"Raccoon, let Buddy go!" Andie demanded.

"I'll only let him go if you bring Surly to me at my hideout." Raccoon said "I'll even allow my trusted friend Cardinal to assist you."

The red bird landed on top of Noah's head and the boy whimpered a little as he said "His talons are digging into my skin."

"I thought you were a traitor before, but teaming up with both rats and alley cats? That's a whole new low even for you!" Andie exclaimed in anger.

"When I was the leader I made allies with others outside the park to keep everyone inside the park under control in case they did anything, let's say, against my wishes." Raccoon said "I wouldn't expect you to understand Andie. You are nothing like me."

"And proud of it." Grayson said.

"Stay out of this!" Raccoon hissed, making Grayson yelp and take cover behind Andie, much to everyone's embarrassment. He looked at the group with a glare and said "Let me make this to you fools perfectly clear, if you do not bring Surly to me by sundown, by the time the last rays of sunlight fade from the sky, then I will be forced to feed Buddy here to the cats."

Buddy fainted when he heard that the raccoon said and Miguel said "And don't you dare try anything, or we might have the rat for a snack sooner then planned."

"Remember what I said." Raccoon said as his minions ran off, carrying the jar with Buddy inside, with them "Before sundown or else."

And with that he dove into the bushes and when the others tried to fallow he and the others were already gone.

"He must've been a real pleasure to have in therapy." Grayson said "Maybe he should consider a job as a magician or something."

Cardinal let out a loud chirp and pecked Noah's head, making him cry out in pain "Ouch! I don't like this bird, he's mean!"

"I guess we have no choice then." Andie said sadly "We're going to have to do what Raccoon does and save Surly, it's the only way we'll ever get Buddy back... if anything happens to them... Oh why didn't I tell Surly sooner?"

"Tell Surly what?" Noah asked

Andie sniffled as she turned to look at Noah and said "Noah... it's something I should have told him a long time ago... in fact I was going to surprise Surly the moment we helped him solve his problem."

"And that is?" Noah asked.

"That... I'm in love with Surly," Andie said with a smile "And I was going to propose to him and make him my mate!"


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

With Surly, the squirrel found himself being thrown into a metal cage before the door slammed shut in front of him. Surly shook his head to clear it before jumping towards the cage door and rattled it for a moment before he glared at the human that had captured him. Dr. Campbell was rushing around the room looking for things as he muttered something quietly to himself.

"This is it," Dr. Campbell said excitedly as he grabbed a journal from the shelf and a few pencils before he began to make his way out of the door "I need to write down my find and how I required it and then I must prepare the squirrel to show it to the public as soon as I can!"

Dr. Campbell then ran out of the room and shut the door behind him. Surly stared at the closed door for a moment before he slammed his right fist, very hard, against the door of the cage in frustration. He then turned and pressed his back against the walls of the cage before sliding down to the floor. Surly rested his arms against his knees as he leaned forward to think about the situation that he was now in.

'This is just great," Surly thought 'Once again, I am now in a cage being held captive by a human and instead of using a blowtorch on me, he's going to show me to a bunch of other humans like i'm some kind of freak or something.'

He tried to calm himself as he turned his gaze towards the window of the room, which was open so that the room wouldn't be so hot and stuffy for him. Surly began to think about his friends back at Liberty Park, but he was mostly thinking about Andie, Noah and Buddy. He had to find a way back to them so that he could keep his promise in protecting Noah from people who would want to abuse him. He also wanted to get back to Andie as soon as he could because he missed the red squirrel the most. He had come to terms with his feelings for Andie and realized that it was more then a crush that he was harboring for her... it was true love.

'If only I had gotten the chance to tell her that I love her.' Surly thought as he buried his head in his arms.

He didn't know how long he sat there in the cage but his silence was quickly broken when he heard the sound of flapping wings near the window. He quickly turned his head in time to see a small chickadee sitting on the window as it looked back at him curiously and flew into the room, landing next to the cage and said "Hey bub, what are you doing in the cage?"

"I'm stuck in this cage because the guy who caught me thinks i'm some sort of new species of squirrel, what with me having purple fur and all." Surly explained with a frown.

The chickadee looked at Surly with wide eyes for a second before he burst out laughing. Surly looked at the little bird in confusion and annoyance as he laughed and rolled around on the ground.

"You're pulling my leg!" The chickadee exclaimed as he slowly calmed himself down "There's no such thing as a purple squirrel. You must've dyed your fur that color so that you can gain some popularity to add a little excitement to your life."

"I did not!" Surly shouted as he stood up to glare at the bird in anger "I was born this way, besides, If I had dyed myself then the white part of my fur would be purple too!"

The chickadee soon stopped laughing as he sat up to look at Surly in surprise "You're serous?"

"Dead serious," Surly replied with a determined look on his face.

The chickadee quickly stood up and bowed his head in shame "Sorry, I didn't know. My name's Chris by the way, what's your name stranger?"

"I'm Surly," The squirrel replied before he began to soften a little bit "And i'm currently locked inside a cage in case you haven't noticed or just forgotten."

"I can see that," Chris said with a frown "Where do you come from?"

"I come from Liberty Park," Surly replied as a sad frown came over his face "And right now my friends are probably wondering where I am and are worried sick about me."

Chris frowned in through for a moment before an idea came knocking into his head.

"Hey, i'll help you out." Chris said with a smile on his beak.

Surly looked at the chickadee in surprise as he said "What do you mean?"

"I can lead your friends here and they'll be able to get you out of here lick-a-de-split," Chris said with a confident look on his face.

Surly through for a moment before smiling at the small bird in front of him before he walked over to the bars of his cage and said "Alright, but before you go, give my friends this message for me."

Chris listened carefully to Surly's message before nodding his head to confirm that he understood. The little bird then turned and flew out of the window as fast as his little wings could carry him. Surly watched Chris disappear from sight before he sat down and began to think about the rats and cats that had crashed the baby shower and chased him, along with his friends, out of the building.

'Why would those cats and rats work together to chase me and my friends out of that vet's house' He thought to himself 'They're pretty much natural enemies and don't get along with each other unless they have the same goal'

Surly then began to think about that Liam guy Noah had met and started to get a sinking suspicion that something wasn't right with that guy. Well, one way or another, Surly was going to get out of this cage and when he did, he'll be having a little talk with this Liam guy.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

No sooner the Chris left then Dr. Campbell had returned and Surly was already sweating in fear at what the human was going to do. He wanted to run away but the cage made it impossible, except for backing all the way to the corner and shuttering in fear.

"Now my fine specimen, prepare to-"

BONK!

Before the human could finish a pan whacked him over the head and he fell limp on the floor with a derpy look on his face. Surly looked up and realized that Noah had hit the human over the head by standing on a chair and struck the man down with one blow of the pan he had found.

"Noah!" Surly exclaimed happily "How did you find me? Was it Chris?"

"The chickadee?" Noah asked as Mole, Grayson, Andie and the Bruisers hopped onto the table to free their friend "Well... yes and... him."

Cardinal landed on top of the cage and stared at Surly with it's creepy black eyes and Surly gasped as he said "What's that flying little monster doing here?"

"Raccoon, aka Liam, sent him over to help us bring you to him." Mole said with a frown "Was not our choice mind you."

"Raccoon's back? Oh no, I should have known!" Surly said as Noah unlocked the cage and Grayson opened the door, allowing Surly to jump out before he realized someone was missing "Hey, where's Buddy?"

"Uh, that's kind of snag number two." Grayson said with an uneasy grin on his face.

"What do you mean snag?" Surly asked with a frown.

"Raccoon captured him." Jimmy said with an angry look on his face "He said he was going to feed him to the alley cats if we didn't bring him to you."

"What?!" Surly replied with a shocked look that turned into sheer anger "When I get my hands on that faker I'll... I'll..."

"We'll figure something out soon, we're running out of time," Andie exclaimed "The sun is setting and in half an hour it will go down entirely!"

"And we still have no idea where Raccoon is!" Johnny exclaimed before Cardinal flew off and the group saw him head out the door and the groundhog added "Except for him, fallow that bird!"

The group ran outside the building and imminently saw the bird stand right next to an open manhole and Andie quickly realized what the bird was trying to tell them "The sewers? Raccoon and his minions took Buddy into the sewers?!"

"Figures that pile of slime would pick something that would match his personality." Surly said with a growl "Come on!"

One by one everyone went down into the sewers as Grayson groaned and said "Oh man, the things a hero has to do to save the day. I just hope I don't get any of the sludge on my tail, I just had it washed!"

Once they were all down Cardinal let them down the path towards the hideout with Noah holding everyone in his arms and Jimmy took in a sniff and said "Nice tunnel, too bad it stinks. Of course it's just as bad as my brother when he breaks wind."

"What are you talking about? It's yours that stinks worse then mine!" Johnny said as he pushed his brother and began a tussle before being interrupted by Mole, who put his arms between them and frowned.

"Please don't! It's bad enough this place stinks like high heaven!" Mole exclaimed "Well, at least I can see down here so I'll be everyone's eyes."

"And I'll keep an eye out for trouble, in case you overlook some." Jamie said.

With Cardinal and Mole leading the way, it wasn't long before they reached a garbage and waste pile covered area decorated to look like a camp ground site before Raccoon emerged with Buddy, still in the jar, by his side.

"It's about time you got here, we were just started to losing patience." Raccoon said

"When do we get to rip out his tail?" Johnny whispered to Andie.

"Not until Buddy is safe." Andie said "His safety is all that matters."

Surly and Andie were the first to approach Raccoon as he drummed his fingers across the side of the jar and Surly said "Alright Raccoon, here I am... now give back Buddy."

"Alright, a deal is a deal." Raccoon said.

But just before anyone knew it Raccoon shoved the jar and Buddy went rolling towards a steep drop right next to a waterfall made of sewage, The park animals tried to rescue him but they were tackled by either rats or cats, leaving Noah to try and reach Buddy before he could fall over the edge.

"Get off me you oversized hairball!" Jamie exclaimed as she tried to move but the cat who held her down refused to move.

"Get your hands off me! Don't you know who I am?!" Grayson asked in anger.

"Don't worry Buddy, i'll save you!" Noah exclaimed before he reached down and scooped up the jar. However he realized too late he was standing to close to the edge and fell, managing to grab the edge with one hand and the jar in the other. Noah hung there as he tried to figure out what to do before Raccoon loomed over him and he said "Well, well... it's not often that you happen upon something like this."

"Help me!" Noah cried "Help me and Buddy!"

"Stay away from the kid Raccoon," Jimmy warned as he tried to get up from under the paws of some cats "Or you'll regret it!"

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Mole said while some rats held him down.

"Why won't you help me?" Noah asked Raccoon.

"Why won't I help you? Why didn't your kind help me?" Raccoon asked "Why didn't you help these rats? Why didn't you help these alley cats here? We're all here, scrapped and scared from the abuse and torment that we are forced to put up with because of you monstrous humans, some have lost limbs like arms and tails, others lost their lives and futures and for those like me... we lost our families, mothers, fathers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins... and even wives and children... I had a glorious future planned for my beloved wife and my only son... and you humans took that away from me. Ever since then I've waited for my chance to get revenge on the humans one day... and now I finally can."

"But not all humans are bad! I'd never hurt anyone and there are a lot more humans like me who would never hurt animals!" Noah exclaimed "You can't kill me because of that!"

"Actually... I can." Raccoon said with a smile.

Before Noah could respond Raccoon bit his fingers, causing him to scream in pain and he ended up losing his grip and tumbled into the waters of the sewage below.

"NOAH!" The park animals cried in horror.

Noah was pulled into a swirling vortex along with Buddy, who's jar broke when it hit a pipe and he hung on tight to the boy as they were pulled deeper into the merky waters before they were sucked into a pipe and vanished out of sight.

All the animals had watched this from the side of the drop and Andie broke down into tears as she fell to her knees and sobbed as hard as she could and Surly tackled Raccoon as he yelled "You monster! You killed Noah and Buddy!"

"I had to do it, to avenge those you lost you have to be willing to do anything for justice." Raccoon said "Even if someone else will have to die along side them. I wouldn't expect you to understand, just like your mother didn't understand."

"What?" Surly asked in shock.

"Yeah, she was rabbling on about unfair things on how Raccoon was running the park and planned to replace him with herself as the new leader..." Miguel explained "Of course, my old pal had to hire me to 'take care' of the complaining squirrel and we did... and now she doesn't complain or talk about paradise as much anymore."

Surly was so stunned he fell to his knees and allowed the rats to drag him away as Raccoon turned to his minions saying "And now we can go to Liberty Park, where Andie will step down as park leader and I will take my rightful place as leader once more... and this time no one will take it away from me ever again."

"Nobody's going to willingly go along with this!" Jamie exclaimed as the cats and rats dragged their prisoners away.

"They will... unless they want to be eaten by cats or tortured by rats." Raccoon said "And believe you me, you have no idea how long they've been waiting for this moment."

Andie was so heartbroken she threw her arms around Surly and continued to cry while Surly gently wrapped her arms around her and tired to calm her down even thought he was becoming a mess of tears himself.

"What now Surly?" Andie asked "What are we going to do?"

"I... I... I don't know..." Surly said in defeat "I don't know."


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

With Noah and Buddy, they continued to wash right down the pipe they had been sucked into. Buddy hung on tightly to Noah as the young boy tried to keep his head above the murky water. They soon came into a larger chamber within the sewers and Noah was able to grab onto a metal ladder bar. Once he had a strong enough grip, Noah pulled both Buddy and himself out of the nasty sewage waters and began to climb until they reached a cemented platform. Once they reached the top the two took a moment to catch their breath before Noah looked down at Buddy with concern.

"Are you alright Uncle Buddy?" Noah asked.

Buddy didn't answer right away as he stood up on all fours and quickly shook the sewer water out of his fur. Buddy then stood up on his back legs and gave Noah an okay sign with his fingers.

"That's good," Noah said with a smile on his face "As for me, other then being soaked to the bone, i'm pretty much fine. But that bite mark that Raccoon left on my hand really stings."

Buddy quickly climbed up onto Noah's shoulders to see the bite mark that Raccoon left on the boy's hand. Buddy winced at the red markings before turning to look at Noah, who looked right back at him.

"Don't worry Buddy, i'll be fine." Noah replied with a reassuring smile on his face. "Right now we need to get out of this sewer."

Buddy nodded in agreement before he began to look around for a moment. His eyes then landed on a ladder that led up to a manhole cover and he quickly pointed to it. Noah looked to where Buddy was pointing and saw the ladder before looking at Buddy with a smile.

"Good eyesight Uncle Buddy." Noah praised.

Buddy puffed out his chest in pride before Noah got up and made his way towards the ladder. Noah grabbed hold to the metal bars of the ladder and began to make his way up the ladder towards the manhole cover. Once they got there, Noah slowly pushed the metal cover up and peaked through the small opening that he made to see where he and Buddy were at and realized they were in a small alleyway that was close to Liberty Park.

Noah used all of his nine year old strength to push the manhole cover off and onto the side before he climbed out of the murky sewers and into the fresh clean air of the city. Noah quickly placed the cover back into place before he looked towards Liberty Park and that's when he saw Raccoon and his gang of goons walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. There were a few cats that were dragging along a cage that held Surly, Andie, Mole, Grayson and the Bruiser siblings inside.

Noah and Buddy quickly hid behind a few trash bags as they watched Raccoon and his goons walking towards the park with their prisoners in tow. Noah sat down on the ground and started to think about the situation that his animal friends were in.

"Okay, there are pretty much a lot of those cats and rats following Raccoon, along with that crazy red bird," Noah whispered to Buddy as the rat sat on the child's shoulder "And there is only me and you so that makes our odds with them completely out matched."

Buddy's ears slumped in worry as he agreed with Noah on being completely outmatched by those cats and rats. The boy and rat sat in silence for a moment as they tried to think of a way to help their friends. Suddenly, the two heard the sound of an empty bean can clicking on the pavement behind them. Buddy and Noah quickly turned towards the sound and saw their pug friend, Precious, standing there.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Precious asked as she raced up to the two boys.

"Precious!" Noah exclaimed excitedly "Boy are we glad to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Precious said with a smile before she noticed that Surly and the others weren't with them "Hey, where's Surly and the others?"

Noah and Buddy sadly looked at each other before looking back at Precious "Surly and the others have been captured by Raccoon and his army of cats and rats."

"Oh no!" Precious exclaimed fearfully before she suddenly started growling "Where are they so I can bite them?!"

"They're heading towards the park," Noah explained "But you won't be able to take on all those rats and cats by yourself."

Precious slumped at what Noah had said before she began to think about something and that was when she had an idea.

"I might know someone who can help." Precious said.

"You do?" Noah asked hopefully.

"Yeah," replied Precious "I have a friend that works for the police department. His name's Jeff and he's one of the best crime fighters in Oakton."

"Then take us to him." Noah said as he stood up with Buddy riding on his shoulders.

Precious did what Noah asked her as the pug led the human boy and rat to where her friend's home was. It took about ten minutes to find Jeff's home, but they soon came across it. The house that Jeff lived in was a two story house with a large backyard and in the backyard was a large German Shepard, who was sleeping on the wooden porch. Precious snuck through a small hole that was in the fence before letting out a quick bark that awoke the German Shepard from his sleep. The dog turned his head to where Precious was before smiling as he stood up from the porch and trotted over to her.

"Hey there Precious, long time no see," the big dog said with a wag of his tail "What brings you to my home this late at night?"

"We need your help Jeff." Precious replied quickly.

Jeff was confused with what she meant by 'we' when he spotted Noah and Buddy peaking over the fence before turning his attention back on Precious with a serious look on his face as he asked "What's the problem?"

"Well... you know that purple squirrel that I keep telling you about?" Precious asked.

"The one you became friends with?" Jeff questioned.

"That's him." Precious said with a nod "He needs help and you, along with your friends, are the only ones who can help."

"And you want my help because?" Jeff asked with a raised eyebrow.

Noah then decided to speak up "Please sir, my family is in danger. Raccoon kidnapped them and he wants to take over our park and there are too many rats backing him up for us to fight him, not to mention he has this alley cat Miguel and his cat gang fighting with him as well."

Jeff was a little surprised that Noah could understand him, but the larger dog's ears suddenly perked up when he heard the name Miguel and turned his full attention on Noah.

"Did you say, Miguel?" Jeff asked.

"Yes sir," Noah replied with a nod "Do you know him?"

"You bet I do." Jeff answered with a nod as a dark frown appeared on his face "He's one of the most notorious cats that ever lived on the street. Miguel has always been tormenting dogs and all other kinds of animals in Oakton for a long while now and I have a score to settle with him for what he did to my friend Abigail a year ago."

"Then you'll help us?" Noah asked in a hopeful voice.

"You bet," Jeff replied with a smile "I just have to gather up some of my friends around the neighborhood. Don't worry, i'll make sure to tell them not to hurt your park friends and that they should only go after Raccoon and his goons."

Noah smiled as tears of joy appeared on his face "Thank you Mr. Jeff!"

"Just call me Jeff kid," said the German Shepard with a smile.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

While Noah and the others were gathering up the other animals of Oakton for their rescue, Raccoon had already gathered the rest of the park animals in the middle of the park to show them a sight that would dwell in their nightmares forever. He was proclaiming himself as the park leader once more and showing everyone Surly and his friends in a cage as proof of his power over them all as the dark night sky was blanketed in storm clouds and thunder roared across the sky.

"I defeated Surly in spite of his petty attempts to stop me and Andie has willingly agreed to surrender her position as park leader to me," Raccoon told the animals "And now I am back to lead you all again, and this time with my new partner Miguel, we will make sure that everyone is put in their proper place and should anyone disagree, you can take it up to either our friends the rats or the cats. Either way, you will be sorry and you will obey every rule I say... or else."

"But what about Noah?" Asked a mouse.

"Noah is no longer with us anymore, he met an untimely demise." Raccoon said.

"Because you killed him you big fat faker of a leader!" Johnny shouted angrily.

"I had to do it, otherwise he would have betrayed all of you sooner or later when he grew up and became an exterminator." Raccoon said, unfazed by the Bruiser's angry outburst.

"Noah would never betray us!" Surly shouted in anger "He was just a little boy who needed someone to look after him and you killed him! Why couldn't you have just left him alone!?"

"That's funny, I was going to ask you the same question... why didn't you just leave me alone back when I was the park leader from your childhood to your adulthood? You could've been spared from banishment and a lonely childhood, I could have taken you under my wing, you could've been my successor! But no, you chose to be a selfish rouge, and an outcast and before I knew it, you turned over a new leaf in time to become the new park hero while I was left stuck at sea with no one but myself to rescue me! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to swim back to shore with monstrous fish biting behind me?"

"No and I don't care." Surly said as he crossed his arms "You killed my mother! You had it coming!"

"And I should have killed you when I had the chance the moment your father died as well." Raccoon snarled angrily "Well, now I have a chance to right this wrong, by doing what I should have done all those years ago."

With a snap of his fingers the rats opened the cage and dragged Surly out while shoving the rest of the group back inside the cage. Surly tried to break free from the rats grasp before Miguel held him down with his paw with a wicked smile on his face. Surly felt squished as the cat eyed him and Raccoon calmly watched from a few inches away saying "Good Bye Surly, give my regards to your parents."

"Don't you dare do it Raccoon!"

Everyone jumped at not only the sound of that familiar voice, but the sudden arrival of dogs, domestic cats and all other kinds of pets who had a score to settle with Miguel and his crew. Precious tackled Miguel and bit his tail, making him scream in pain while Surly ran back to his friends and opened the cage before a familiar human loomed over them with a smile on his face.

"N-Noah?" Andie asked, surprised and hoping that this was not a spirit she was talking to.

"I'm here mommy." Noah said with a smile.

"He's alive!" Jamie exclaimed happily.

The female groundhog then ran over to Noah and hugged him tightly, as did Andie, Mole, Johnny, Jimmy, Grayson and Surly, each one happy and relieved their friend was alright before Surly tackled his friend Buddy with a tight hug saying "Don't ever do that to me again pal."

Buddy smiled and hugged his friend back before some rats tried to tackle them. Noah scooped up Surly, Andie and Buddy as Grayson shouted "Run back to the mill, save your family! We'll handle these brutes!"

Noah ran towards the mill as fast as he could as rain began pouring down from the sky but while the animals were busy fighting they didn't notice Raccoon was behind Noah, carrying a sharp knife like stone in his grasp as he snarled and hissed "This time I'm going to kill him myself!"

Once inside the mill, Andie took care of the nasty bite mark by wrapping it up in some cloth like a bandage and said "Don't worry sweetie, we'll find a way to fix this. We may need help from the humans for this."

"I just hope that Raccoon didn't catch anything like rabies or something while he was out there." Surly said "I saw that happen to some human guy once, let me tell you it was not pretty."

"Not as pretty as when I get my hands on you!" Raccoon shouted as he charged into the room.

Noah quickly grabbed Buddy, Surly and Andie and ran upstairs while throwing obstacles to stop the mad mammal from getting closer but he managed to dodge and pass them easily. Noah rushed past his nest and the other nests the park animals had made climbed to the top of the roof of the mill as rain poured down and block the entranced while the boy took great care in not stepping on anything that could cause him to slip. Andie, Surly and Buddy hung on to their friend and realized that they had no where else to go but down, straight down from such a height that could easily kill anyone should they foolishly take a wrong step or jump the wrong angle.

"Oh great, now what are we going to do?" Surly asked

"I... I wish I knew." Andie said.

"I'm scared... I'm really scared." Noah said as he trembled and Buddy tried to comfort him.

That inspired Surly to think of a plan and he said "If Raccoon wants me, he's going to get it."

In a moment Raccoon burst out and climbed on top of the roof of the old mill and walked towards the four with an angry look on his face "No where to go Surly, you might as well surrender."

"Alright, I give." Surly said "You win... just don't hurt Andie, or Buddy or even Noah."

"And why should I leave them alone?" Raccoon asked.

"Because... because they are my family..." Surly said "And they love me no matter what I do. Like Buddy here is not just a rat, he's the greatest brother a guy like me could ever have, he's also the greatest partner and friend I could ever ask in a guy and I would never give him up or trade him for anything in the world."

Buddy smiled happily as he teared up and hugged himself.

"And Andie, she's not only the most beautiful squirrel in the park, she's fearless, independent, compassionate and everything I could ask for... the only thing I regret is that I should have told her that I loved her sooner. Heck, if she wanted to I'd marry her faster then a heartbeat. And if we end up having kids together... I hope they are just like her."

Andie smiled as she began to tear up and knew that she would marry him in a heartbeat as well.

"And Noah here, he's one incredible kid... at first I thought humans were nothing but oversized jerks... but that all changed when I met Noah here. He's proof that humans are not only big in size, they're big hearted as well and smart and caring and practically just like us in every way! And this boy, my wonderful, amazing son... he's everything I could ever ask for and more."

Noah smiled as he wrapped his arms around himself and grinned. At first Raccoon looked like he was rethinking about everything... but then he smiled and said "Then let's see if he really is smarter then he seems."

Before they can stop him, Raccoon tossed the knife like stone at Noah like a spear and the sharp stone struck him right in the stomach! Noah screamed in pain and backed away, before he tumbled through the hole of the mill and landed with a thud inside his nest.

Surly, Buddy and Andie looked down at their wounded friend and were horrified by this before Raccoon grabbed Surly and dragged him over the edge of the mill and suspended him in the air "I'm through playing Mr. Nice Guy Surly, and I have had it with you."

Before he could let go Andie and Buddy attacked the raccoon and slashed and bit him like savage animals and Surly managed to get away as he watched the angry rat and squirrel attack as his anger built up and soon he charged towards the raccoon and with a strong punch in the gut, he knocked Raccoon right off the edge of the roof and the Raccoon fell into the river with a splash and was captured by the other animals along with Miguel.

After catching their breath Surly, Andie and Buddy ran back down to check on their human friend and Andie was the first one to each Noah's side as he curled up in a ball with a teary look on her face "Oh my baby, my beautiful baby!"

"Medic, where's a medic when you need one?!" Surly exclaimed in panic.

"Is... Is Raccoon gone?" Noah asked weakly.

"Yes, he's been captured and... he won't hurt anyone ever again." Andie said as she wiped away her tears sadly "I just wish I could help you!"

"You don't have to." Noah said with a smile.

The squirrels and rat were confused and watched in surprise as Noah stood up and said "Don't worry guys, i'm not really hurt, I was just pretending to fool Raccoon."

"You... you mean you aren't seriously hurt... but how..." Surly asked in shock.

Noah removed the stuffed toy Rose gave him and said "I managed to stuff this under my shirt in case Raccoon tried to do something and the toy saved me from the stone... i'm sorry I had to trick you as well, but I had to make it look believable or he wouldn't buy it."

Surly, Andie and Buddy smiled before they laughed and embraced their child in a loving hug... before Noah said "Guys... there's something I have to tell you."

"What's that?" Surly said.

"I... that whole ordeal Raccoon put us through made me realize something... all this time I thought that hiding me from my own kind was the best choice to protect me... but now I realize that I was just acting like a coward by hiding from my problems instead of facing them... I know what you promised AJ and all... but I think it's high time I finally stop hiding and tell the whole world my ability to talk to animals. I don't care what will happen if I do, I will not let anything stop me ever again, not bullies, not folks older then me, not anything... I'm going to be brave and survive like you guys... and maybe I will be adopted by a human family, one who I can inspire to love you guys as much as I do... but don't worry... you're always be my family no matter what... I just hope your not upset."

At first they looked hurt but then they realized that the boy was right and smiles grew on their faces as Surly said "Yeah... come to think of it, it would be better if we help you find a good forever home with a human family. And I already know the perfect one."

"The vet? The one who's having a baby?" Noah asked.

"Yes, and i'm sure they wouldn't mind adding one more baby into the family." Andie said "Just have them promise to visit us time to time again."

"I promise I will... if you do one more thing." Noah said

"What's that?" Surly asked.

"Don't forget to invite me to your wedding when you finally decide to wed." Noah said.

"That won't be a problem... I've made up my mind." Surly said before he pulled Andie close and said "Andie, before anything else happens, there's one important question I want to ask you... Will you marry me?"

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same question." Andie said with a smile before she added "And yes!"

the two embraced in a loving kiss and Noah smiled as he said "Well, now that that's settled... how am I going to face the orphanage ever again after what I did to them?"

"Don't worry kid, we can work something out." Surly said.

* * *

The next morning everyone in the park was told about what Noah had decided and everyone was sad that Noah was leaving but they were willing to help him get settled into a new human family and back into human life. While they were working out a plan to help Noah out Rose came along and the boy found her smiling that same old smile of hers with Surly on his shoulders.

"I see your friend is doing fine." Rose said.

"Yeah, Surly and I have had a long day yesterday, but we managed to survive." Noah said before he added "Hey, what happen to those crazy purple squirrel fans?"

"Didn't you hear?" Rose asked "Surly is not rare anymore."

"What?!" Surly and Noah asked in surprise and shock.

"Yeah, they found a whole dray of purple squirrels all the way in Detroit, Michigan and everyone left to see them." Rose said "Of course this means that Surly isn't as special or much of a treasure anymore."

Surly smiled as he sighed in relief and Noah said "Believe me, Surly is glad to hear that."

"So where are you going?" Rose asked.

"I'm going to fix a problem I should have taken care of a long time ago... wanna come?" Noah asked.

He offered her hand and Rose took it, fallowing him all the way to the orphanage with the entire park community behind them and boy did they have such a story to tell when they got there.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

When Noah and the park community first got to the orphanage, the children and adults were a bit surprised and frightened by all of the animals that were standing with Noah and Rose but Mrs. Scott quickly got over her surprise as she quickly ran up to Noah and hugged the boy.

"Oh Noah, where have you been?" Mrs. Scott asked in a happy voice "When you disappeared from the orphanage I thought that someone might have kidnaped you or you ran away."

Noah laughed nervously "Well... in a way I kind of did, but I was being well taken care of by my animal friends here."

Surly climbed up onto Noah's shoulder and waved a hand at Mrs. Scott, who stared at the purple squirrel in surprise before smiling at him.

"Were you the one that helped look after Noah?" Mrs. Scott asked.

Surly nodded before motioning to Andie and Buddy who also climbed up onto Noah's head and shoulder.

"Thank you," Mrs. Scott said as she smiled at the three animals.

"Mrs. Scott," spoke Noah as a serious look came over his face "I have something that I need to tell you and all of the other kids in the orphanage."

A few moments later, everyone gathered in the courtyard of the orphanage as Noah began to reveal his secret to the kids and adults that stood around him. As he told everyone his secret, the kids were flabbergasted that the boy was able to talk to understand animals, while the adults, minus Mrs. Scott, were a little skeptical about the boy being able to talk to animals. But there was one kid who didn't believe that Noah was able to talk to animals was the bully of the orphanage. The girl was eleven years old with short brown hair and blue eyes that held a lot of anger and frustration. She was wearing blue overalls, a pink shirt with short sleeves and white shoes. This was Amanda, the girl AJ warned and who was rumored to have been abandoned by her parents because they couldn't handle her behavior.

"Yeah right," Amanda said as she stepped forward to glare at Noah "Like I would believe something like that, there's no way you could possibly understand what those rodents are saying."

"Amanda, shush!" one of the staff mumbles shouted angrily "Everyone has had it up to their heads with your so called attitude in this orphanage!"

"Yeah," one of the kids said as he turned to glare at Amanda "And I bet your jealous that Noah is more special then you are."

"I'm not!" Amanda exclaimed as she glared at the boy in anger "I bet he's only fibbing just so he could get attention, besides nobody would want a freak like him for their child!"

Some of the park animals glared at Amanda in anger, but the boy who Amanda was arguing with suddenly hit home when he said the one thing that hurt the bully the most "You mean just like how your parents didn't want you because you're too much of an angry monster to them?"

Amanda flinched back with a hurt look written on her face as she clenched her hands into fists. She held back tears that threatened to come spilling out of her eyes before she shouted "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT WHY MY PARENTS LEFT ME HERE!" And with that she ran away from the group and headed back into the orphanage and slammed the door shut.

Nobody moved as they stared in bewilderment at what had just happened, but soon the kids turned their attention back on Noah and began to ask him questions on what it's like to talk to animals. Noah then told everyone about how Surly and the animals took him in and make him part of their family, all the way down to how they faced off against Raccoon and his gang before putting them away in the animal shelter forever. The adults soon believed that Noah was telling the truth and everyone in the orphanage accepted the boy's gift in animal speech. It wasn't long after that Dr. Noland, his wife and their brand new baby came to the orphanage to adopt Noah as part of their family. Surly and the others were surprised and happy to see Sophie still alive and breathing within the vet's arms. The rabbit was bandaged up around the left back leg and around the ribs, but she was still fine. It wasn't long that Noah had to say good bye to his animal friends.

"Good bye everyone," Noah said with a sad smile "I'll be sure to visit you as soon as I can."

"Be sure that you do." Mole said with a smile.

"And remember to come to me and Andie's wedding." Surly reminded as he grasped Andie's paw.

"I will... Dad." Noah said.

Surly looked at Noah in surprise before smiling at the boy. Noah scooped up Surly, Andie and Buddy as he gave all three of them a gentle hug that lasted a few moments before Noah placed this three family members down on the ground and quickly ran to where Dr. Noland and his family were waiting for him. Surly smiled with pride and joy as he watched his human friend driving away from the orphanage, but his smile soon changed to a frown as he looked up to one of the windows of the orphanage. Surly couldn't help but think about that bully and wondered what she meant by people not understanding her? Andie noticed this and gently squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"Are you okay?" Andie asked in concern.

"Yeah," Surly said as he looked at Andie with a small smile on his face "I'm just thinking about what that girl, Amanda, had said about people not understanding her."

"Funny, I remember someone else who used to say the same thing when he was a small child..." Andie said with a grin "And that same child grew into a certain mastermind who saved our park from our own leader. And he's the same one that i'm going to marry and start a new family with."

Surly blushed when he heard that and scratched his head in embarrassment "Gosh I... it was so long ago... I almost don't remember most of it... do you think Amanda will change one day?"

"If you can change Surly, there's no doubt she will change as well. Just give her time, like I gave you time." Andie said.

"You crazy dame.." Surly said before he said "Now let's go home."

With that everyone started to make their journey back to Liberty Park and to a whole new beginning for all of them.

The End!


End file.
